


Happily Never After

by PagetPaulson



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-25
Updated: 2015-01-25
Packaged: 2018-03-08 23:56:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3228323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PagetPaulson/pseuds/PagetPaulson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A fallen hero and a lost mother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Happily Never After

Emily sucked in a shaky breath, bending to the floor to take her child in her arms and wipe the tears from her big blue eyes. "Don't cry, baby," she tried to coo, smiling as best she could. "Why are you crying?"

The little girl's bottom lip stuck out as she tried not to cry. "Momma is going."

"What are you talking about? Momma's not going." Sniffling, the brunette woman turned her daughter around and pointed out the front door. "You see that? Who's that out there?"

"That's nana."

Emily smiled shyly up to the older woman who, she could see, barely wanted to walk through the door. "Yeah," she agreed, her voice cracking as she watched her child tiptoe over to her grandmother who went to wrap her in her arms. "It's nana."

Charlotte found her way into her grandmother's arms and wrapped hers around her neck, smiling gently at the familiar smell of her other mother.

"How are you, darling?"

"Momma's going away," the four year old whispered.

Emily didn't even try to hide the tears in her eyes as her mother-in-law set her daughter down and held her arms out for her. "Hey Sandy," she husked, hugging the older woman tightly to her. "Are you ok?"

The blond kissed the younger mother's cheek as she rubbed a hand down her back. "I should be asking you that."

Moving away from the older woman, Emily wiped her fist under her eye. "Well we should get going," she whispered, ushering her daughter to her and helping her with her coat. "Can you go and find Henry for me?"

Sandy nodded before making her way into the home. She could feel sorrow fill her soul as she walked from room to room, laying her bright blue eyes on every family picture she saw hanging on the walls. There wasn't a single inch of that home that didn't have a touch of her daughter embeded into it. "Henry? Baby boy, are you here?"

The seven year old got himself up from the couch, immediately smoothing the wrinkles out of his tux just like his mother would want him to. "Hi nana."

"Hi sweetheart," she smiled, running her hand over her grandson's light blond hair. "You ready to get going?"

Henry silently nodded his head.

Taking the young boy's hand in hers, Sandy gave the most encouraging smile she could muster up. "Your mother is so proud of you," she nodded, kissing his forehead. "I know she is."

Henry looked up to his grandmother and felt his eyes sting with tears. He had tried to hold them back for his brunette mother, not wanting her to be sad, and threw his arms around the woman who had given him his mother. "I miss momma, nana," he sobbed, letting her pick him up from the ground and hold him to her chest. "I miss momma!"

Emily held her hand to her forehead when she heard her son from the other room, and her chin trembled so rapidly she was afraid she wouldn't be able to speak. But she had to hold it together for the lot of them.

Picking up the baby she had given birth to, Emily pressed a kiss to her hair. "Let's go out in the car and wait for Henry, ok?"

Charlotte nodded against her mother's neck, reaching up with her small hand and wiping a tear from her mother's cheek. "Love you, mommy."

"I love you too, ladybug."

They drove to the church where Emily had married the love of her life and where they had had their children baptized, and seeing all the people going to gather inside the warm, holy place made the brunette's heart freeze up. She was terrified. What was she supposed to do now?

Sandy helped the younger woman with the children and locking up the car before she handed the youngest of the two over to her mother. "I'll meet you inside. Alright darling?"

Emily gave a quiet nod of the head, letting the blond place a kiss to her damp cheek before watching her walk up the church steps. "Ok," she sighed, sniffling as she knelt down in front of her kids. "So there are a lot of people in there who want to give us their condolences, and we're gonna have to stand there and try and look happy, ok?"

"What's a condoles?"

"Condolences are something someone gives you when they know you're really sad," the mother nodded, her lips tight together to keep a sob from ripping out of her mouth. "Take mommy's hand?"

Charlotte grabbed on quickly to the older brunette's hand, turning to try and encourage her brother to do the same thing. "Come on Henry."

Emily gave a shaky sigh before nodding to the young boy before her. "Come on baby, take my hand."

Forcing himself not to cry, the seven year old gripped his mother's hand tight and let her hug him to her. "I don't want her to be gone," he sobbed, feeling the brunette woman rub his back to try and calm him down.

"She's not gone, remember?" Emily pulled back from her son and poked gently at his chest. "She's always gonna be right there. Ok?"

Henry didn't let go of his mother's hand the entire gloomy afternoon, following her everywhere she went and standing with her up at the podium after everyone had made her cry with giving her their condolences.

Tapping lightly at the microphone to make sure it was on, Emily sent a sad smile out to the mourners who had come to spend the day with her and her family. "Hello everybody," she rasped, an upset Henry hanging onto her hand and looking out amongst the people. "I'm so sorry we all have to be here today, but I would like to thank you for coming."

Charlotte's big blue eyes filled with tears, and she struggled to get off of her grandma Elizabeth's lap. "Mommy!"

Emily stepped around the podium and gestured for her daughter to come up to her, feeling the teary eyes of everyone on her as she let her daughter jump into her arms. "You ok?" she whispered, fingering her daughter's ponytail before making her way back around the podium. "I apologize for how sad this day is," the now single mother smiled sarcastically, reaching down to take her son's hand. "But it has to be done."

The Ambassador, in the front row with the other parents and the rest of her daughter's team, leaned into the seat beside her. "I'm very sorry for your loss," she spoke quietly, looking to the blond sitting next to her. "I can't imagine what you're feeling."

Taking the hand that was given to her by the older woman, Sandy kept her eyes up on the mourning family that stood at the altar.

"I knew Jennifer for eleven years, and we were married for nine. She was my best friend," the brunette said as she tried for a smile, but her face turned into a grimace at the painful feeling she had in her heart. "I loved her very much, and she was completely in love with our children. I let her pick the names for our children and she couldn't be happier," the mother laughed, not noticing her team's smiles as she bent her head. "But she wasn't only a loving person in her personal life, she was at work.

JJ was the media liaison for our team for thirteen years, and she always had this special way of being the person the mourning families wanted to speak to. She had a way of helping people, and I'm very sad that she can't be here with us today."

Emily blinked her tears away as she glanced to the picture of her wife looking out onto the audience. "Jennifer was someone who put her all into everything, and that's exactly what she did the day she left this earth. We had been chasing a man who had been hurting a couple of poor young girls, and my wife, if anyone knew my wife, was hell bound on getting him into custody. But because of that bravery and tenacity, she went in without backup and we couldn't save her in time."

Charlotte pressed a sloppy kiss to her mother's cheek. "Ok mommy?"

"I'm ok baby, thank you." She nodded. "I want you all to remember her the way she was; the most beautiful, hardworking and most loving being to ever live. Please remember what she has done for every single one of you and please remember to only speak about her in good spirits." Emily felt the tears pouring down her cheeks, and she tightened her hold on both her children as she looked to her team in the front row. "She was an amazing mother, and I'll be sure to teach our children what she taught me. She taught me about love and that I was capable of anything," she practically whispered, pressing kisses to both of her babies heads, "and if my children learn nothing more than that lesson, I'm sure both Jennifer and I will be ok with that."


End file.
